The presidents laid wreaths at the Eternal Flame in the Hall of Military Glory and placed flowers at the grave of Marshal Vasily Chuikov, twice Hero of the Soviet Union.
Vasily Chuikov commanded the 62nd Army, which distinguished itself during the Battle of Stalingrad. In accordance with his will, the marshal was buried on Mamayev Kurgan next to the servicemen of his army.
During the Battle of Stalingrad, Mamayev Kurgan was one of the most important parts of the defence system of the Stalingrad Front. The first obelisk was erected there on February 8, 1943, immediately after the end of the sanguinary battles.
The memorial complex To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad on Mamayev Kurgan comprises the Memory of Generations monuments, an alley of Lombardy Poplars, Fight to the Bitter Square, Symbolic Walls, the Square of Heroes, the Hall of Military Glory, and Sorrow Square. The centrepiece of the memorial is The Motherland Calls, an 85-metre tall sculpture. Leading to the top of the hill are 200 granite steps – one for each day of the Battle of Stalingrad.
The 34 symbolic red banners bearing the names of the 7,200 servicemen who fell in that battle are situated along the perimeter of the Hall of Military Glory. Over 35,000 defenders of Stalingrad have been interred at the memorial cemetery on Mamayev Kurgan.